Olan(Red Pumpkin Curry) & Cauli-Pot-Peas Upperi

Left - Red Pumpkin Curry-Olan, Right - Upperi or Dry Subzi of Cauliflower,Peas and Potatoes


I have modified the traditional Olan which requires fresh coconut milk by substituting it with coconut powder. The traditional one also calls for main ingredient Ash Gourd, my family loves the Red Pumpkin one, my version is a time saver too.

Olan

Ingredients for Olan :
3 cups cubed (washed,peeled n deseeded) Red Pumpkin (400 gms)
1 cup coconut milk thick (3 tbspn coconut powder dissolved in warm water)
2 cups coconut milk thin (1 tbspn coconut powder dissolved in warm water)
2 green chillies OR 1 tsp red chilli powder
salt
4-5 sprigs curry leaves
2 tbspn coconut oil

Method for Olan :
In a pan, place 2 cups of thin milk and cook covered on a low flame along with the cubed Red pumpkin, salt and green chillies or red chili powder. Check for done-ness...simmer it do not let it boil. It is done when cooked but in shape too. Add the thick coconut milk, mix it well. Warm the coconut oil alongside. Add the curry leaves to pumpkin curry, put off the flame. Pour warm oil over the curry and curry leaves, cover the lid for flavours to mingle. Serve with rice.


Upperi/Subzi

Ingredients :
1 small cauliflower (appr. 500 gms )
2 medium potatoes
1 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
1 small tomato
1/2 tsp + 1 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp garam masala (optional)
1 tsp mustard seeds (rai)
1 tsp cumin seeds ( jeera )
Oil

Method :
Wash and cut the cauliflower florets, place in warm water with 1/2 tsp haldi for 15 minutes. Wash,peel and cube the potatoes and tomato. If frozen peas, place in a mw safe bowl, mw on high for two minutes, to soften the peas. In a kadhai/wok, heat a tbspn of cooking oil, crackle rai, splutter jeera, add potatoes, fry them for two minutes, add cauli-florets, fry for some time. Cover the lid and allow to cook in steam on a low flame for around 8-10 mins. Check if cooked. Then add the chopped tomatoes -let cook uncovered. Add haldi, red chili powder,mix well. Combine peas and lastly adjust salt. Just a minute before the flame is put off, add garam masala powder. Put the flame off, mix well, cover for 5 minutes. Serve with chappatis or as a side dish for rice.

Several variations can be tried like adding an onion and a tsp of ginger-garlic paste too.
I learnt this dish from my M-i-l.


Quite filling on a cold winter night!

Batatya Upkari Ani Daalitoy (Potato Curry and Daal-South Canara Style)

Batatya Upkari (Left Hand Side) Daalitoy (Right Hand Side)

Speaking of Konkanis and to be more specific, at my place, this is the most sought after meal.
Some of them swear this Daal to be their 'Kul-Dev', while the other lot prefers to simply slurp it down tossed with melted ghee! The accompaniment is dry curry which is generally called 'Upkari' and can be made of several veggies, but our fave is either Tendley(Gherkins) or Batato ( Potato).
The potato curry is usually garnished with freshly scraped coconut, but I have skipped that.


Batatya Upkari :

Ingredients -
6 medium sized potatoes
1 tsp rai
5-6 red chillies (bydagi)
Salt
Oil

Method -
Wash the potatoes thoroughly. The potatoes are not peeled. Cut into french fries style mini pieces. (As shown in pic). Heat around a tbspn of cooking oil in kadhai, pop the mustard seeds, halve the chillies and add till glossy with oil. Next add the cut potatoes, stir till coated uniformly with oil, cover the lid, allow to cook in its own steam, stir in-between so that it doesn't stick to the bottom. Add salt to taste. Cook for 10-15 min or until done. It should get cooked but not mashed, the shape should be intact. Cover till serving for flavours to blend. Garnish with a tbspn of freshly scraped coconut if desired.


Daalitoy or Toay :

Ingredients -
1 cup tuvar daal
1 pinch hing powder / lapsi sized crystal of hing
2 green chillies
1 tbspn coconut oil
1 tsp rai
5-6 red chillies (byadgi)
Ghee while serving

Method -
Pressure cook daal along with green chillies with double the amount of water for upto 3 whistles.
In a vessel take salt and hing (dilute the crystals if using those with warm water) pour the daal in it, churn it a little. (At this stage add more water if you like it liquidy or let it just be if you like it thick.) Throw away the cooked green chillies. Simmer the daal again on gas top, medium flame. In a tadka pan, heat coconut oil and pop the mustard seeds, add the halved byadgi chillies till glossy and pour it over the boiling daal. Put the flame off and cover with lid for flavours to blend.

Serve hot rice, top the rice with ghee, pour Daalitoy and relish it with Batatya Upkari!!


(PS: This is how the dish is made by my mother, there are variations and combinations that people like and I am representing only my family's taste here.)


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Warna / Waran Bhaat

Hubby dear and few fellow bloggers pressed on me to post authentic recipes, i.e not what I cooked from others blogs but what I have grown up eating, cooked by my mother, my mother-in-law and those traditionally handed over dishes!

Hence I thought of trying to begin by posting this simple daal also called 'Waran' in Konkani and Marathi. This is perfect for any meal, noon or night and goes well with rice or chappatis!

This simple yet delectable daal is flavorful - spreads an aroma of fresh coriander , jeera and tomato! At my place we used to have this with Pappodu, vodi and any upkari!

Ingredients :
1 cup tuvar daal
2 green chillies
1 pinch hing (asafoetida)
1 medium tomato
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh coriander leaves
Salt

1 tsp Jeera
Oil

Method :
Pressure cook the daal , tomato and hing with double volume of water upto 3 whistles or until done. Pour in another vessel, add the coriander leaves and simmer. Add salt to taste.
In a tadka pan, heat oil and splutter the cumin seeds (jeera) add to this daal. Cover the lid allowing the flavours to blend.

I call this daal a 'Bachelor's Daal' as it is pretty fast to make and any bachelor longing for home food can easily make this...




Serve with rice or chappati along with any side dish of your choice and pappad goes very well!

Gajar Ka Halwa

New Year brings lots of sweet memories and here is a sweet which reminds all of us of these Hindi lines :
Son : "Maa mein aa gaya!"
Ma : "Beta, tu aa gaya!" (I guess he just announced his arrival dear screen mom)
" Beta mu-haat dho lo..tumhe bhook lag rahi hogi! AAJ maine tumharey pasand ka 'GAJAR KA HALWA' banaya hai!!! (Taaddaaaaaa)
Son : " Maa tumhe kaise pata mujhe gajar ka halwa bahut pasand hai (Arey Director ney bata diya..aur tum Maa ko screen mom -one-movie-mom hone ka ehsaas kyon karva rahe ho, bevakoof, Mums know frm the birth of their childs fave food ..so curb on silly questions n gulp down that halwa to satiate your hunger while the noble people shall gulp down a bowl of daal and rice!)
Yes..from our good old number of Hindi Movies esshtyle!

But no, this was made as dessert! My MIL makes awesome gajar halwa...the pain in the neck(shoulders and arms literally) is grating them manually!
When I saw Indian Red Juicy Carrots, I longed for this halwa as I don't prefer halwa out of the orange unsweet carrots. There are many versions and after trying many of these, I have settled for below recipe.

How to make this ---

Ingredients :
1 tbspn ghee
5 cups grated carrots
2 1/2 cups milk
3/4th cup sugar
1 tsp cardamom(elaichi) powder
10 cashews + 5 for garnishing
10 almonds + 5 for garnishing

Method :

Cut the cashews and almonds lengthwise. In a deep kadhai, heat ghee, add the cashews and almonds, fry till transculent. To this add the grated carrots and stir well till uniformly mixed with ghee. (I pressure cooked the grated gajar with milk upto two whistles just enough so that it doesn't get over cooked, for saving time) Add milk and keep stirring in between so that it doesn't stick to the bottom. Once all the milk evaporates, add sugar, stir till the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. Put off the flame, add cardamom and mix well. Cool it, garnish with cashews and almonds. Serve.




Ready to be digged in!! Ek bowl se mera kya hoga?? :D

HAPPY SANKRANTI AND HAPPY PONGAL TO U!

Kaju Katli N Orangy-Cashew Cookies

CASHEWY CASHEWY -KAJU KATLIS N ORANGY-KAAJU COOKIES

Kaju Katli is a sweet which is liked by most of us! My full family just loves it. When Pooja posted her easy recipe I had to give it a try, sooner or later--well later I did! Thanks Pooja...this recipe is a true winner. My hubby too liked this home made Katlis a lot.

Ingredients :
1 cup cashews
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp ghee
1 tsp milk
Chandi Varq

Method :
Grease a small thali/plate with ghee and keep aside.
Kajus are soaked in water for half an hour, drained and spread on a paper towel. In dry jar of a grinder, grind together the sugar and cashews. If there is difficulty in grinding, add only 1 tsp (not more) of milk and coarsely grind it. In a kadhai , take 1 tsp ghee, heat it, add this mixture.
Keep stirring on low or medium flame, till it bubbles and leaves sides of pan. (takes only 5-6 minutes). Transfer immediately onto the greased plate. Flatten it with aid of a spatula, spreading the mixture uniformly in the plate.
Allow to cool completely. Place the varq on it. Cut into shape of your choice. Refrigerate.
This will take one day to firm up. It will then look as above..firm to hold, not chewy at all, very very cashewy!!! Just like Katlis from a sweet vendor!!



ORANGY-KAAJU COOKIES

The second recipe is from the best blog Shilpa of AR, whose maximum recipes I have tried and they always, without fail turn out best!
These cookies needed orange zest, for which I used orange soaked in warm water, it was easy job to peel off the orange part of skin only, which I later passed through my food processor to shred into more bits. It was fun while baking them, more fun to watch hubby and kids say hmmm-nice ones while eating it. These have only cashews as I didn't have pecans at the time of baking these. They have a mild orange flavour to it, with cashews to munch on and the rest of it just melting away in the mouth!!!!

(Please use accurate measures to obtain delicious cookies)


Ingredients :
2 cups maida
1 cup butter at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbspn orange zest (ie zest of 1 medium sized orange)
1 cup cashew (coarsely ground)
1 tsp salt
1 egg

Method :
Sieve maida,baking powder and salt together. Keep aside. Coarsely grind the cashews, keep aside. With an electric beater, cream the sugar and butter. Keep beating on lowest settings, add egg, orange zest, flour mixture spoon by spoon. Finally add the cashews and mix well.
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F(170 deg C for my oven). Make small lime sized balls.
Line the baking sheet with waxed paper/parchment paper. Place these pedhas with good space as they tend to spread triple the size. Bake for 15 minutes or till the sides turn golden brown, remove and cool on a wire rack.
If the middle part looks mushy, it will gradually firm up on cooling.


In a dry airtight jar, store these 30 yummy cookies !
Every time the jar is opened a nice aroma fills the place , reeling your senses!!!!





CELEBRATE THIS MERRY OCCASION WITH KAJU-KATLIS N COOKIES!!






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HAPPY NEW YEAR-WELCOME 2008

RING OUT THE OLD, RING IN THE NEW

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light;
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we see no more,
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes,
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease,
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

- Alfred, Lord Tennyson

This poem had been in my school text-book which I found while googling. Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote this poem around in 1850 and associates with the New Year Eve very well!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF MY FRIENDS AND TO THE BLOGGING COMMUNITY!

Puttu Kadala / Rice-Coconut Tube with Chana Curry

'Puttu-Kadala' is a Famous Keralaite Breakfast item... Puttu is layered coconut rice mixture steamed in a special mould called 'Puttu Mould' and Kadala is Malayalam for Chana-Black one or Kabooli one. The traditional Kadala curry is made out of black chana which is very tasty and nutritious too!

I prepared it from Kabooli / Choley chana as black ones were over...hubby and kids love this Kabooli chana so much so that the moment it is out of pressure cooker all the three have a bowl ready in their hands to eat the plain salted ones!!

I learnt to make this from my mother-in-law who cooks any dish fabulously!

Ingredients for Kadala Curry :
2 cups chickpeas/ chana (Black/Kabooli)
1 small tomato
3/4th cup coconut
5 tsp coriander powder
2 tsp red chilli powder
Salt
Tadka Ingredients:
1 tbspn Coconut oil
1 tsp rai/mustard seeds
7-8 pearl onions/cheriulli
2 sprig curry leaves

Method for Kadala curry :

Soak the chana in warm water overnight in large vessel as they swell up a lot. Boil upto 8 whistles in a pressure cooker, using sufficient water in the cooker and double water in the vessel with a tsp of salt. Cooked one doubles up in size as you see in the pic.




Next step is to grind the coconut with half measure water with the coriander and red chilli powder into a fine paste. Add this coconut paste to the boiled chana, add chopped tomato and bring to one boil. Finely chop the cheriulli. In a seasoning pan, heat the coconut oil, pop the mustard seeds, add the curry leaves and lastly add the onions and fry till brown. Add to the boiling curry, adjust salt. Cover the lid for flavours to mingle.



This delicious Kadala curry is ready to be served alongside Puttu.






Ingredients for Puttu :
2 1/2 cups rice flour
1 big coconut scraped
300 ml Lukewarm water
Salt

Method to make Puttu:



Take rice flour in a big vessel or a large plate, add around 1 1/2 tsp salt (or as per your taste) mix well. Add water little by little, using hands, mix it into the flour it should resemble bread crumbs and ensure that all the powder has been uniformly sprinkled with water. Use more water if needed.Keep aside.


(left-right Pic : Rice powder ready, coconut kept ready, puttu maker with the water boiling attachment)


Take the puttu maker, layer the coconut first around 1/2 to 1 cm thick, then 3 cms of rice mixture, then again 1 cm coconut, repeat rice mixture, last layer finish off with coconut upto the brim.

Keep the boiling attachment on gas with 3/4th water till it boils, lower the flame, keep this puttu maker and cover the lid. In ten minutes steam arises from the lid. Allow two minutes and put off the gas. Invert it slowly over a plate and using the long spatula handle slowly push out the puttu on a plate. Repeat the process for next puttu. This measure gives an yield of 6 puttu.










Have your fill with a cuppa !!